Webcasts

Webcasts

Archived Webcasts

The rush by container lines to economies of scale is proving something of a double-edged sword for levels of global port and berth productivity. The increasing scale of vessels and rising concentration of alliance volumes clearly creates considerable challenges for port operations, but it also forces key container shipping stakeholders focus more intently on meaningful projects to improve collaboration and leverage maturing technologies for improved operational efficiency. Port productivity data from the JOC and parent company IHS Markit reveal that more than a quarter of total global container moves now involve vessels capable of carrying more than 10,000 TEU. The average number of container moves per port call is now well more than 1,000 globally, and many ports must deal regularly with double-digit percentage increases in the average number of boxes exchanged during calls.

This webcast will leverage the world's largest active port productivity database to deliver unique insights into developments on global, regional, and national levels. It will include discussion and analysis of the most important productivity improvement projects underway globally, how challenges are being overcome, and the opportunities arising to add value through cutting waste and improving efficiency in port operations.

For much of the last decade, carriers couldn’t take advantage of persistently low oil prices because of weak demand and overcapacity that dragged freight rates to record lows. It was only in 2017, after six straight years of losses, that container carriers finally managed to turn a profit. But while demand has recovered, so have oil prices, rising to their highest level in four years, and there's increasing talk about prices reaching $100 a barrel especially with US-Saudi Arabia tensions rising. With Asia-Europe carriers already struggling to effectively deploy the mega-ships flooding into service without destroying freight rates, more expensive bunker fuel will further undermine the cost benefits that are such a key factor when operating these large vessels. There may be some help from the supply-demand balance. IHS Markit's Trends in the World Economy and Trade forecasts demand for containerized volume on Asia-Europe will grow 3.7 percent this year, a slight decline compared with 2017, before growing at about the same pace in 2019. So what will the supply-demand balance be in 2019, and what does a high fuel price future look like for container shipping lines?

This webcast will analyze the outlook for the European shipping market as 2018 winds down.

As the globalization of world trade accelerates, achieving operational speed without sacrificing accuracy is paramount to the success of all stakeholders in the international trading system. For shippers, terminal operators, and ocean carriers alike, anticipating the exact time of arrival of each freight shipment, as well as the moment when it will be available for each subsequent link in the supply chain, remains a vital issue. Sharing timely operational information about each shipment among all parties can shed a great deal of light on the “dark spots” along the supply chain that make it so difficult to achieve this critical visibility.

In a 2018 survey of approximately 250 shipping industry executives and professionals conducted by JOC.com/IHS Markit, Navis, and XVELA, more than half of all respondents anticipated that their performance metrics would improve by at least 50 percent if they could access such real-time operational information. However, 56 percent surveyed see the lack of industry data standards as the primary challenge that needs to be overcome to achieve widespread industry collaboration.

This webcast will explore the “Working as One” survey results and examine the potential path to real-time collaboration across the industry, including cultural and operational challenges facing adoption.

Driven by the “Amazon effect,” both commercial customers and consumers are increasing their demands for real-time visibility. Supply chain visibility is no longer a “nice to have” for any organization, no matter the size, geography, or industry.

In this webinar, hear firsthand about some of the most surprising and important things that these supply chain leaders have learned from buying and implementing advanced visibility platforms. Get insider tips and advice about the fastest and most agile ways to create efficiencies, decrease transportation costs, and deliver a superior customer experience.

How do you build a visibility business case and get buy-in from your organization to initiate a project and manage its implementation?

As you evaluate technology options, what are some of the key capabilities to look for in a solution?

Change management is often a challenge with these types of digital transformation initiatives. How to address and overcome any pushback internally or from external partners and carriers?

What are the measurable benefits achieved by implementing a multimodal, advanced visibility platform?

The stakes have rarely been so high for shippers trying to navigate fast-rising rates, high freight demand and constrained truck and intermodal capacity. The pace of rate inflation may be slowing, but prices remain much higher than in 2017, let alone 2016. Thank a strong US economy, higher fuel prices, and a supply chain prone to disruption. Hurricane Florence is the latest reminder of just how fragile and prone to disruption the North American freight network actually is at a time when freight demand is at record levels. How will we deal with the challenges economic expansion and constrained capacity will pose as the peak shipping season for trucking approaches, and as we look beyond into 2019?

This webcast will analyze the current state of the market discuss how shippers should prepare for the final quarter of 2018 and beyond, and serve as a primer to deeper discussion at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference in Oak Brook, Illinois, on Oct. 20-22. https://events.joc.com/inland-2018

Technology has always played a critical freight transportation role, but there's never been a time with more solutions available, more focus on new and potentially transformative concepts, and more confusion about how to navigate this environment. From blockchain, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles to IoT, robotics and bots, shippers are being asked to go on an exciting but daunting ride fraught with potential risk. Although some of these dynamic technologies seem abstract to many logistics practitioners, the hurdles are concrete: a lack of funds to invest; a lack of clear technology-adoption strategies at the departmental and organizational level; and a lack of understanding of what these technologies mean to shippers’ bottom lines or performance. Many shippers still lack foundational tools to cope with the basics of their supply chain, much less the cutting-edge tools they are being asked to consider.

This webcast will analyze the state of logistics technology and examine what the latest technologies will do to empower shippers to take processes in-house, and how effectively service providers will expand their capabilities to remain relevant themselves. The JOC will be discussing this topic and more at our Logistics Technology Conference October 29th-30th in Las Vegas.

With shipping analyst Drewry forecasting that seaborne refrigerated cargo carried by container ships and specialized reefer operators will exceed 134 million metric tons by 2021, growth in global reefer cargos shows no signs of cooling. Frozen goods were especially strong in 2017, rising more than 5 percent year over year, to 124 million metric tons, a big improvement over the average 3.6 percent annual growth of the past 10 years, according to Drewry. Drewry also estimates that containerized reefer traffic expanded 8 percent in 2017, outpacing the growth in overall seaborne reefer trade, as shippers continued to shift cargo from the declining specialized reefer fleet to containers. But for refrigerated shippers, that growth presents new and familiar challenges amid changing market dynamics.

The carrier consolidation that swept through the industry in 2016 leaves reefer BCOs among the most prone to service-related disruption, equipment shortages, and tight capacity. The latter is especially critical, with the overcapacity that led to favorable freight pricing for shippers giving way to supply-demand balance and increasing rates. And, depending on the trade lane, the top three containerized carriers now control 70 to 80 percent of reefer trade, according to Thomas Eskesen, founder of Netherlands-based refrigerated consultant Eskesen Advisory. A big question going forward is how new tariffs on US, Chinese, European, and other goods will impact trade in such goods as beef, pork, poultry, and various frozen goods.

This webcast will feature Martin Dixon, director and head of research projects for Drewry, who will analyze these issues and discuss the key takeaways from the company’s just-released 2018-2019 Annual Reefer Shipping Review and Forecast.

When 2018 opened, automotive shippers faced many of the same supply chain challenges as other importers and exporters: deteriorating service reliability from ocean carriers, port congestion, poor visibility of their goods while in transit, and landside disruption related to rail service and tightening trucking capacity. If anything, those concerns have only heightened amid record containerized shipping volumes and an economic and trade boom that shows no signs of slowing. Overshadowing it all, perhaps, is the latest, and perhaps biggest, challenge: trade issues ranging from uncertainty about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement to the Trump administration import tariffs on Canada, China, and the European Union – and subsequent retaliation — that threaten to throw the automotive trade into turmoil. The threats come as the industry wrestles with anemic growth in US auto parts imports, which inched up 0.5 percent last year as part of a five-year compound annual growth rate of 1.7 percent, according to PIERS, a sister product of The Journal of Commerce within IHS Markit. At more than 1.2 million TEU a year, those imports are a critical commodity for ocean carriers, freight forwarders, and ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Charleston, Savannah, and New York-New Jersey. As the trade battles play out, other risks continue to loom large – poor service reliability, the deepening landside capacity crunch, rising rates, customs inspection that likely will grow more onerous, and the evolution of autonomous vehicles, which create new opportunities as well as questions over parts development and regulation.

This webcast will analyze these and other challenges to automotive shippers, examine the outlook in an increasingly complex global environment, and provide strategic direction for how shippers should respond.

Moderator

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, JOC.com and The Journal of Commerce

Speaker(s)

Dustin Braden, Data Analyst, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Steven Hughes, President and CEO, HCS International

****************************************************************

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please contact Tony Stein at Tony.Stein@ihsmarkit.com

After years of pain for the depressed breakbulk and project markets, 2018 opened with signs that the multipurpose vessel and heavy-lift fleet was finally shaking off the long shadow of the Great Recession. Broad improvement in the global economy was boosting demand and keeping competition from other sectors at bay, consolidation was reconfiguring the fleet, and scrapping and moderate vessel orders were keeping capacity growth in check. However, these positive signs could be undermined if and when threatened trade wars between the US and the rest of the world come into full force. And rising oil prices, while a positive for the project industry overall, also mean rising marine fuel costs -- and these are expected to jump much higher in 2020.

The global fleet, and its clients, must grapple with the IMO's rapidly approaching January 1, 2020, deadline requiring that the sulfur content of marine fuels be reduced from 3.5 percent to .5 percent. The knock-on complications of this regulation are massive and include questions about fuel costs and availability, refining capacity, vessel adaptation, and regulation enforcement. Although a substantial percentage of shipowners believe the deadline will be pushed back, there are strong signs that it will not be, possibly leading to a capacity crunch in some sectors.

In this webcast our experts, Susan Oatway and Roger Strevens, will analyze these issues and their implications for the fleet and the breakbulk and project industry, and discuss their expectations for the rest of 2018 and into early 2019.

With US imports surging 7.6 percent in the first three months of 2018, according to PIERS, and little sign of a slowdown in demand, the trans-Pacific is in the healthiest shape it’s been in years. The same can’t be said about the matching of that demand to capacity, though there have been improvements. Carriers are injecting an 8 to 9 percent increase in trans-Pacific capacity, while imports are projected to increase 5 to 6 percent, according to industry analyst Alphaliner. That the result is downward pressure on annual service contract rates and a challenging environment for carriers. Amid the persistent overcapacity, carriers are working to differentiate themselves by offering guaranteed reliability and faster transits, while looking to recoup surging bunker fuel prices through a series of surcharges and peak-season general rate increases. For beneficial cargo owners, the news could get worse before it gets better, as the Trump administration engages in tit-for-tat sanctions battles with some of the largest trading countries and partners in the world.

This webcast will analyze the outlook for the critical peak shipping season and beyond, and how economic and policy trends will impact the major container shipping trades.

The annual Top 100 Importers and Exporters report is one of the most extensive products The Journal of Commerce produces. Based on exclusive research, it analyzes the largest global companies shipping containerized goods to and from the US — essential information for shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics providers.

This webcast, the second in a two-part series, will analyze the makeup and dynamics of the Top 100 US Exporters and the factors driving outbound trade. It also will look ahead to the rest of 2018 and the regulatory, economic and transportation issues US exporters face.

Moderator

Chris Brooks, Executive Editor, JOC Events

Speaker(s)

Dustin Braden, Data Analyst, JOC.com, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, JOC.com and The Journal of Commerce

****************************************************************

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please contact Tony Stein at Tony.Stein@ihsmarkit.com

The annual Top 100 Importers and Exporters report is one of the most extensive products The Journal of Commerce produces. Based on exclusive research, it analyzes the largest global companies shipping containerized goods to and from the US — essential information for shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics providers.

This webcast, the first in a two-part series, will analyze the makeup and dynamics of the Top 100 US Importers and the factors driving inbound trade. It also will look ahead to the rest of 2018 and the regulatory, economic, and transportation issues US importers face.

Moderator

Chris Brooks, Executive Editor, JOC Events

Speaker(s)

Dustin Braden, Data Analyst, JOC.com, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, JOC.com and The Journal of Commerce

****************************************************************

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please contact Tony Stein at Tony.Stein@ihsmarkit.com

Whether President Trump withdraws the US from the North American Free Trade Agreement or not, US trade with Mexico is on course to grow. Cross-border supply chains are linked at a deep level, and whatever trade agreements the US, Canada, and Mexico agree upon, freight will keep moving. Indeed, after declining in 2016, total US-Mexico trade increased more than 6 percent year over year in 2017, according to the US Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division. That doesn't mean the flow of goods can't be improved, or that policy couldn't have an impact on how goods move. The bigger question may be how the US economy and available transportation capacity affects cross-border freight. How will shippers, logistics companies and transportation operators cope with increased congestion at the border and uncertain policies in both countries? How will proposed changes affect shippers’ supply chains, and how should BCOs prepare?

This webcast will address these questions as it examines the future of US-Mexico trade and the goods flowing over the border.

After years of dire predictions of a major trucking capacity crunch, 2018 hit, and those predictions quickly became reality. This is a year unlike any shippers have seen in more than a decade, and no forecaster early in 2018 foresees near-term relief. Tight truckload capacity, higher freight volumes, double-digit trucking rate increases and faster, e-commerce-driven delivery demands from customers have shippers scrambling to avoid budget-breaking rate hikes from their transportation providers and significant penalties and fees from unhappy customers, especially big-box retailers. It’s a tight-wire balancing act exacerbated by the intrusion of the electronic logging device mandate, which is sucking time out of supply chains and changing the ground under shippers.

This webcast will analyze the North American trucking market following a dramatic first quarter.

Following unprecedented consolidation over the past two years, container shipping's new world order is coming into focus. Supply chain disruption resulting from alliance changes, port labor, and other recent factors seems likely to recede in the trans-Pacific trade, while momentum is building to solve longstanding, costly problems through technology. The industry is entering a hyper-phase of problem solving, technological innovation, and product differentiation, but which technologies will prove game-changing is still an open question. In short, the industry is at a turning point, moving away from the bricks-and-mortar issues that have consumed it over the past 20 years and moving toward a period when the race to use technology to reduce costs, open new revenue opportunities, and become as efficient as possible will only intensify. These issues, as well as big-picture economic forecasts; carrier-customer relationships; best practices in contract negotiating; deep-dive, sector-specific supply chain analysis; shipper-based case studies; and the supply chain of the future are the defining themes shaping the 18th Annual TPM Conference in Long Beach, California on March 4-7.

This webcast, led by senior JOC editors, will analyze the key takeaways and lessons learned from container shipping's biggest event.